FERVORINO FOR HOLY HOUR, LAUNCH OF YEAR OF PRAYER FOR EUCHARIST28
FERVORINO FOR HOLY HOUR, LAUNCH OF YEAR OF PRAYER FOR EUCHARIST28ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, 1 MARCH 2026
On His last night, after finding them asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asks His disciples: “Could you not watch with me one hour?” (Mt 26:40). It’s a relatable moment. On the one hand we sympathise with the guys, who’ve just had a big Passover Meal, with wine. They are exhausted after the ups and downs of this Passover Week, and their bamboozling evening with Jesus in which He said and did the most extraordinary things—instituting His Holy Eucharist, founding His priesthood, mandating Washing of Feet, predicting His Passion. No wonder they were dopey. We’ve probably all felt overwhelmed and shattered at times, even in church…
On the other hand, Jesus is facing His greatest trial and asks His three favourites to keep watch with Him. It’s not asking too much. What’s an hour in the grand scheme of things, especially among friends? But they let Him down in this deeply human scene. Jesus is already feeling lonely and abandoned: one of the Twelve is about to betray Him with a faux kiss (Mt 26:14-16,25); another will deny knowing Him a few hours later (Mt 26:33-35,69-75); by tomorrow they’ll all have fled (Mt 26:31,35,56). He’ll cry from the cross that it feels like even His Father-God has abandoned Him (Mt 27:46). But He wanted His friends around Him in His hour of need.
It’s a deeply human scene, but a profoundly divine one also. An angel comes to minister to Jesus in His agony (Lk 22:43). Amidst the melee of His arrest, Jesus miraculously heals the servant whose ear had been cut off (Lk 22:49-51). The next day will be marked by more such dramatic signs—eclipse, earthquake, bodies rising from graves, the Temple veil torn asunder (Mt 27:45,51-54). And after His self-sacrifice He will be vindicated in the Resurrection. God’s love and power are already working themselves out on that terrible night.
So Jesus’ invitation to the Twelve to join Him for the Passover-turned-Eucharist, and His invitation to the Three to join Him for His prayer in the Garden, are reminders that every disciple has a part to play in God’s plan of redemption. We, too, are invited to the Last Supper, the Garden Agony, the Calvary Cross and Tomb, that we might rise with Jesus at the Resurrection. He wants us with Him, sharing in His life-giving mysteries, ultimately sharing in His divine life.
The journey of the 54th International Eucharistic Congress of 2028 will be in three phases.
Phase I—the years of preparation—has already begun, and it is about more than event planning, staffing, budgets and logistics, important as all that is. The focus of this phase is on readying the best celebration of the IEC that Sydney can offer, but in the meantime tilling the soil of our souls with well-targeted catechesis, immersions in the sacred liturgy, forms of prayer and processions, and more. And so tonight we launch a year of prayer!
Phase II will bring together the faith, imagination and energy of the Catholic people of Sydney, of Australia and Oceania, and of the world, in September 2028, for a truly joyful faith-filled celebration. A theological symposium will precede the week of talks, workshops, dialogues and demonstrations, liturgies, adoration and processions, culminating in the Final Mass to be celebrated by Pope Leo XIV.
Phase III will extend through to the 2,000th anniversary of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection—and the first Eucharist. We will long continue to unpack all we have experienced at the Eucharist28. The Church of Sydney and of Australia prays for a full-blown Eucharistic revival and hopes to long harvest fruits such as closeness to Christ, increased Mass attendance, deeper prayer and devotional lives, increased vocations, revitalised parishes… and whatever surprises God has in store for us!
So stay with me, Jesus said in Gethsemane, says to us still. Stay with me. Gaze upon the Sacrament of my Flesh and Blood, my Body and Soul, my Humanity and Divinity, all given for you.
“Yes, Lord, I will stay with you,” we say.
As we begin this Year of Prayer, let us take this invitation seriously. Let us watch with Christ, not only for this hour but in every hour He gives us from now unto eternity. Although we come to Him weary and distracted, frail and damaged, like His first disciples did, He doesn’t turn us away. He wants us near to Him always.
